Railway booster



Oct.

F. R. PETERS RAILWAY BOOSTER Filed June 13, i924 Patented Oct. 5,

UNITED vsfm'rEs PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK RICHARD PETERS,v OF NEW Y ORK, N. Y., ASSIGNOR TO FRANKLINRAILVJAY SUPPLY COMPANY, A CORPORATION OF DELAWARE.

My invention RAILWAY Boos'rnn.

Application sied June 13,1924. serial No. 719,718.

relates to railway boosters suchas are used on the trucks of railwayvehicles to assist inr especially on the trailer trucks` their`propulsion, Land of locomoch a booster serves to increase the tractivepower in starting and at slow speeds,

by making drivers of wheels which wouldV otherwise be idle; but thebooster is not ordinarily intended to drive the train by itself,

high speeds. The

concerned with the gear clutch or to Operate at all at invention isparticularly arrangements of such boosters. (as they are commonlytermed), emp disconnecting the b hicle axle which it drives.

simple and reliable accessory parts for or disentrainment called.

In the drawing,

loyed for connecting or Ooster to or from the ve- I aim to providemechanism for this pureffecting pose, and to facilitate cleaning orrepair of the parts more frequ and particularly the motor entlyrequiring either, device and any lentrainment of *the booster, as it isFig. 1 shows a longitudiclutch mechanism conveniently embodying .my infvention.

Fig.

2 shows a bottom view of a shiftable gear clutch member that appears insection in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a fragmentary top view of the saine gear clutch member andcertain associated parts, some in section as indicated by Fig. 1.

The

drawings show the axle and a portion of the and bed plate or frameu11.

the line 3-3 in gearing for. connecting the axle the booster engine (notcrank sha-ft` 12 of shown) comprises a gear a pinion 14 on idler pinion15 mounted on a shi clutch member 16,.pre rocker. This rocker 16 neednot ofV the parts Vbeing shown booster driven booster casing shown, the10 to the 13 on the axle 10, the crankshaft 12, andan ftable gearferably arranged asY a necessarily be fulcrumed on the crank shaft 12,but may be otherwise mount the crank shaft.

opposing spring 21 16 is overbalanced ed, ason a piv ot 17 below Theidler pinion 15 is Preferably, some 30 per c h thevcrank shaft pinionmesh with 2O and an the rocker enttoward .d .To throw the gears 15,

The piston cap 32 screwedA o n the outer a position out of mesh with thegear 13, to insure proper operation even if the spring 21shouldbreak.

13 into mesh and keep them in mesh, pressure lfrom the booster cont-rolsystem (notshown) is vadmitted to the motor cylinder 2O through a. pipe22 (the pipe 23 also shown is for conveying pressure from the cylinderto other parts ofthe booster controlsystem), so as to thrust the rocker16 to the right (clockf wise), away from the adjacent lower wall of thecasing 11. 4When the pressure in the cylinder other hand, the lrocker 16automatically swings `to the left (counter-clockwise) land throws theidler pinion 15 out of mesh with These operations of conv the axlepinion necting the crankshaft 12 to the axle 10 and thispu'rpose, it isprovided with a flange '26 bolted to the wall around the Opening, asindicated at 27, a gasket 28 being preferably interposed to make a tightjoint and prevent Oil from leaking out of the casing 11 when splashlubrication is employed for the booster. In the present instance, thecylinder 2O extends inward from the flange 26, so that it ispracticallyV altogetherv within the casing 11. 3() in the cylinder 2O ishere shown as hollow, and considerably elongated,

vto afford ample bearing, as Well as ample Suitable stop Y room forpacking grooves'31. means may be provided for limiting the outwardmovement of the piston 30in the cylinder 20such, for example, as anapertured end of the cylinder. In the present instance, the piston 30acts on the rocker 16 through an vactua-ting rod 33 that extendsthroughthe aperture of the cap 32 and engages the piston web'.

To economize space and facilitate a convenient arrangement of the parts,the rocker V16, may preferably be recessed or otherwise suitably formedto receive the operating cylinder 20, as well as to extend around thecrank shaft 12 and its gear 14;. In the present instance.I the rcckerr16comprises, as its 2O is exhausted or relieved, on the f main strengthelements, two parallel walls23,-and or plates with suitablecross-connectingtor webs 37 at various peints. it may conveniently becast all in one piece. Unlike its recess for the gear 14, the feature otthe rocker 1G ,that accommodates the cylinder' 2O is net a mere bend inthe rocker edge, but rather a cylindrical openingI 38 with wall merginginte the rocker sides 36. The actuating red may be interposed betweenthe bottom 01"' this recess 38 and the bottcm of the corresponding endrecess or' the piston 3f). Preferably. the rod is in the nature of ashouldered stud'secured by 'a nut39 in a hole in the bottom wall of therecess 38.

rllhe 'spring 21 for actuating the gear clutch member 16 is hereshown'as 'forming part of a. unitary spring assembly 40. As shown, it isa helical compression spring, and is interposed between an aperturedportion of a rocker web 87 and an externalV flange on an abutment sleevevmember 41 around which the said spring` is mounted. Thisrsleeve 41is,'in turn, mounted around an externally nane'ed hollow hub or stud 42on a rabbetted cover plate 43 that closes au opening 44 in the casingwall beyond the motoropening 25 (speaking with reference to the rockeri'ulcrum 17), and is bolted to the wall around the openingha 'gasket 45being preferably interposed to make a tight joint. The sleeve'41 issecured inplace by a bolt 46 with rabbetted head 47 screwed into theupper end ofthe sleeve and locked by a key or pin 48. The bolt 46extends through the hub 42, and a nut^49 on its lower end holds thelower end 'of the sleeve 41 firm against the cover plate 43. Preterably,a flanged collar 50 is arranged loose around the sleeve 41, to serve asa seat'tor the spring 21 on the rocker web 87. Y'A nut l, 51 is screwedon the lower end ofthe sleeve 441',`to hold the collar 50 on the sleeve.

Around the casing opening 44 is a ridge 52 that serves as a stop Jtorlimiting the unclutching movement ot the rocker 16. 'Thus abutmentmember .4l with its bolt 46, spring 21, and collar 50 constitute aunitary assembly 40 that can be conveniently put in place or removed assuch. To'permit this to be done without opening up the booster casing11, the flange of thek collarO may be mutilated as shownin Fig. 8, so'asto consist, inl eitect, merely of Va number spaced lugs 53, and the web37 may be provided with corresponding slots 54 adapted to pass theselugs and depressions 55 between the slots for seating the lugs andpreventing the collar from turning.

lV ith the construction described. it will be seen, the, motor 20 can beunbolted from the casingl 11 and withdrawn throughthe opening 25 withoutopeningupl the casing or disturbing any ot the other parts,-eX cept,perhaps, the control connections 22,

.2O isextremely simple and rugged and verv and a shiftable 'gear thusrendered completely accessible disassembly, cleaning, repaeking, lorether repairs. rlhis'c-an be done from beneath the booster, without theextreme incenvenience and ditliculty involved in anything that requiresvaccess to the'rtop' of the booster, Close under the locomotive asbnan 1Aj: or other parts. ln itselr, also, the motor 7 U easy to manufacture,assemble, disassemble, and repair. lnlilre manner, the spring` assembly40 can be removed by unscrewi n fr' the nut 49 and taking' oil' thecover 43, l the collar lugs 53 out 'or' the recesses 5 turning` themtill they register with slots 54, andthen withdrawing the wholeassembly. Y V

I claim: Y

- 1. The combination with `a `booster casing iaving an'opening init's'wall, of' a gear clutch motor detachably -mounted at said opening.

2. Thecombination with a booster'casing having an 'openingY in its wall,of a gear clutch motor detachably mounted on the apertured wall andremovable through the opening. Y

8. rlhe combination with abooster'casing having an opening in 'its walland a shift` able gea-r .clutch memberin said casing'adjacent saidopening, ot'a piston motor with .cylinder detachably mounted at saidopenmg, and an actuating rod carriedrby lsaid on said member extendinginto the cylinder tor engaging the piston.

5. VThe combination of -a booster casing with an Opening in its wallanda shiftablev lgear clutch member adjacent saidopening,

spring means 'urging said member toward said wall, but removable throughan opening therein and a piston motor detachably mountedl in saidopening for pushing` said member Lawa-.y from said wall. Y i Y 6, lThecombination V'with VaV booster casing` and a shiiitabl'e gear clutchmember therein, ot a pistonmctor with cylinder on the casing wall, witha. shiftable gear clutch member in the casing recessed to receive the`cylinder and actuated by the motor piston.

't'. The combination with a booster casing clutch member therein, of apiston motor with cylinder on the casing wall, and anactuating rod onsaid memberfor extendinginto said cylinder and en- 'gag-ing the piston.

8. The combination of a booster casing and a piston motor with cylinderprojecting inward Jirom the casing wall, a shiftable gear clutch memberin the casing recessed to receive the cylinder, and an actuating rodinterposed between the motor piston and the bottom of the recess of saidmember.

9. The combination of a boost-er casing and a piston motor with cylinderprojecting inward from the casing wall, a gear clutch roc-ker in thecasing recessed to receive the cylinder, an actuating rod interposedbetween the motor piston and the bottom of the recess of said member, anabutment extending from 'the casing wall through said rocker, and aspring operatively interposed between said rocker and said abutment,said spring and abutment being removable through said rocker and casingwall.

l0. The combination of a booster casing, a gear clutch rocker in thecasing, a pair of openings in the casing, a motor detachably mounted inone of said openings eX- tending upwardly into the casing but removablethrough said opening and adapted to move the rocker in one direction,and spring means detachably mounted in the other of said openings alsoextending upwardly into the casing but removable through its opening andadapted to return the rocker.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto signed my name.

FRANK RICHARD PETERS.

